I should start by saying, in case there's ever a question about it, that I graduated from the University of Waterloo. At the time, David Johnston was my president. Today, he's the Right Honourable David Johnston, but at that time, he was the president of my university and his signature is on the piece of paper I have.
I'll put that on the record. I'm a proud graduate of the University of Waterloo, and I encourage anyone watching to consider the fine institution that it is.
Mr. Barrett, I know you're not a regular member of this committee, though we appreciate your coming every so often. As I have shared with members, Mr. Johnston responded to confirm that he would not be able to appear before May 23, as was requested by committee members. However, he promptly responded to our request and confirmed June 6 as the date he would be appearing, as it was the first date that was possible after the report was provided. That is information I have shared with members, but, I guess, not in this forum.
To your question, Ms. Blaney, we have not had reluctance on the part of the Right Honourable David Johnston to appear. He has provided a date that would work, as long as it worked within the committee's business. We've slated him in for that.
On the point about the number of days, we've also had to go through redistribution and a series of different things. Something I've also stated is that the priority of this committee has been changing on a daily basis. It almost feels like that.
For the clerk to be slotting in witnesses.... What we've seen on multiple occasions is that witnesses will confirm their appearance, and then we have to change them and reschedule them because we change our focus on the day.
I hope that answers your questions, Ms. Blaney.
Now we have Mr. Fergus.